Saakashvili asked to be released from prison for the funeral of Ilia II.

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who is serving a prison sentence for embezzlement, asked to be allowed to attend the funeral of the bishop of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II.

Earlier it became known that Ilia II died at the age of 94 in the clinic. His funeral will be held on March 22 at the Zion Cathedral in Tbilisi.

"I have asked my lawyer to write a statement and ask him to take me to the monastery of the patriarch as his friend, the third president of Georgia," he wrote on his Facebook page (owned by Meta, a company whose activities are recognized as extremist and banned in Russia).

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On March 12, 2025, the ex-president was sentenced to nine years in prison in a case of embezzlement of about 9 million lari (more than $3.2 million) from the state budget. According to the Georgian Prosecutor's Office, a significant part of this amount was spent in 2009-2012 on Saakashvili's personal needs, including luxury goods. In addition to cases of embezzlement and illegal border crossing, the ex-president was charged with illegally dispersing a rally in 2007.

Later, on March 17, the court sentenced the politician to another 4.5 years in prison in connection with illegal border crossing in 2021. On November 6, another criminal case was opened against Saakashvili and several opposition leaders for calling for the overthrow of the government.

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